Ladies&#39; stockings



Aug. 1, 1961 D. A. WOOD, JR.. EIAI. 2,994,214

LADIES STOCKINGS Filed Dec. 15, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 awe/21M MAI/D A. W000, R, IIARRY H. PAS5; 00855? M. MATT/ 5W6 5 Edi-"US K. SM T Aug. 1, 1961 D. A. woon, JR.. EI'AI. 2,994,214

LADIES STOCKINGS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 13, 1960 awe/Mm mwo A. W00, an, HARRY H. Passe,

P085197 M. MATTHEWS E RUFUS If. SMITH Aug. 1, 1961 D. A. WOOD JR ETAL 2,994,214

LADIES STOCKINGS Filed D90. 13, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Aug. 1, 1961 WOOD 2,994,214

LADIES STOCKINGS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 13, 1960 Q5 7 03mm DAV/D A W000, 719., HARRY H. Puss, #085197). MATTHEWS 8 wt RUFUS K SMITH M K W Patented Aug. 1, 1961 2,994,214 LADES STOCKINGS David A. Wood, .lr., and Harry H. Pease, Concord, and

Robert M. Matthews and Rufus K. Smith, Charlotte,

N.C., assignors to Chadbourn Gotham, Inc., a corporation of North Carolina Filed Dec. 13, 1960, Ser. No. 75,502 Claims. (Cl. 66-178) The present invention relates to ladies stockings and a method of knitting same, and more particularly to ladies stockings wherein held and floated stitches are arranged throughout the stocking without interlooping of the held and floated stitches to produce unique and heretofore unrecognized characteristics that are particularly applicable to ladies stockings.

Held and floated stitches arranged according to the present invention have not heretofore been incorporated in ladies stockings to produce the results obtained by the present invention. This stitch arrangement has special significance in the field of ladies stockings as advantages are obtained that are uniquely pertinent to problems in ladies stockings, which problems are not present or of importance in other uses of the stitch arrangement, and these advantages would not be recognizable from a general consideration of the stitch arrangement unless applied to ladies stockings.

In the present invention the stocking is of knit construction with held and floated stitches interspersed throughout the fabric at desired intervals and in a selected pattern to produce the desired characteristics. The held and floated stitches are located in adjacent courses With the held stitch extending from one course through the adjacent course of the floated stitch and knitted with the loop of the next course beyond the floated stitch course. The held stitch and floated stitch are not interlooped or tucked together and the floated stitch is not knit in the loops in the next course, but rather extend straight across the wale of the held stitch without obstruction, and is connected or looped-in with the loops in the wales of the held stitch course on both sides of the held stitch.

The arrangement of held and floated sitches according to the present invention, wherein these stitches are not interlooped or tucked, permits unobstructed movement of the yarn through the loops as neither loop is locked with the other loop. This is uniquely pertinent in ladies stockings to minimize or eliminate streaking that is present in stockings knit on machines Where some of the needles or sinkers or both are slightly bent or otherwise out of alignment, with the result that the wales knit by these needles and sinkers are not equally spaced between adjacent wales, which causes unequal distribution of the yarn and forms unsightly and undesirable vertical streaks, especially where the stitches are condensed, as at the ankle. In the present invention the yarn can shift or slide during boarding to adjust and reposition the wales in proper alignment, thereby minimizing streaking.

This ability to shift or slide provided by the present invention is further especially pertinent to ladies stockings as stockings are normally boarded on forms to shape the stocking to a general leg configuration and it is important that the stocking conform to the shape of the form particularly at the narrow ankle portion so that the stocking will fit properly on the leg of the wearer without wrinkles. By the present invention the yarn is not obstructed by tucks or otherwise, but is tree to shift or slide as the stitches in the narrowed portions, such as the ankle, are elongated when the stocking is pulled down on the boarding form to tighten the stocking about the boarding form.

The fact that the held and floated stitches are not looped or tucked together in the present invention provides an even distribution of the yarn without doubling or bulking as occurs in tucked or locked stitch arrangements. As a result, the stocking of the present invention is much more sheer in appearance than stockings having tucked or otherwise combined stitches. This even distribution also minimizes any pattern or other non-uniform appearance as the floating loop extends across the area left open by the held stitch and thus there are no conspicuous openings to create a noticeable pattern. Further, the uniform, non-bulking stitch arrangement provides a relatively flat surface that reduces susceptibility to snagging. In comparison with stockings knit with a tucked stitch, the stocking of the present invention snagged 15% less when tested on at DuPont Snag Tester. In addition, any snags that do develop during manufacturing can be easily worked out by working the yarn back through the loops, which can not be done satisfactorily with a tucked stitch construction Where the yarn is locked against sliding at the tucked stitches.

The above advantages of reducing streaking, improved shaping, improved Sheerness, reduced pattern appearance and reduced snagging are all improvements over tucked or locked stitch and other similar stockings that are utilized for their run-resistant characteristics, and yet the stocking of the present invention is also run-resistant in one direction to prevent runs from progressing downwardly in the stocking. This run resistance is provided by the floating stitch, which is knit with the loop in the needle Wale that is on one side of the held stitch, extends across the needle wale of the held stitch, and is knit with the loop in the needle Wale that is on the other side of the held stitch. Thus, any run that progresses in either of the needle wales adjacent the held stitch will be stopped by the floating stitch as the floating stitch will remain looped in the other Wale and will not pull out.

Another significant feature of the present invention, which is particularly pertinent to ladies stockings, is the stabilization of the fabric against twisting or twirling of the stocking tube, as from inclination of the stitches. Twisting or spiralling is resisted in the present invention by the weld stitch, which is not connected or knit in the floating stitch course but extends across that course and is knit in the next course. This extension of the held stitch and the tieing-in with a loop two courses away tends to hold the loops in walewise alignment and resists inclination of the wale. This feature is especially advantageous when knitting stretch stockings with lively, torque yarn, wherein the torque yarn causes the stitches to incline and would normally tend to twist or spiral the stocking. In conventional stretch stockings yarns of twist-torques in opposite directions are knit in alternate courses or alternate groups of courses to prevent spiralling or twisting. However, due to the stabilizing effect of the held stitch of the present invention it is possible to manufacture a stretch stocking with only one torque yarn having a twist-torque in only one direction without obtaining an undesirable amount of twisting or spiralling of the stocking tube even when knitting on a circular knitting machine. Better stabilizing eltects are produced by alternating the torque yarn with a raw, or non-torque yarn with the rawyarn used in the courses in which the held stitches are knit, as the raw yarn is itself balanced and has a greater stabilizing eflect in holding the Wale in alignment. In addition the raw yarn shrinks to the boarded shape and holds the torque yarn to the boarded shape. This not only gives desirable characteristics in the finished stocking, but also results in a substantial economy as raw yarn is less expensive and is easier to handle during knitting.

The present invention can also be applied to support stockings, such as those disclosed and claimed in copending application Serial No. 74,369, filed December 7, 1960 to obtain the above advantages and, in addition, the support characteristic itself is considerably enhanced. As pointed out in said copending application support characteristics can be obtained by controlling the various factors during construction of the stocking so that when the stocking is Worn the stitches will be pulled to sub stantially full distension and the yarn itself will resist further widthwise extension, thereby supporting the leg of the wearer. As the wearers leg is contoured with wide and narrow portions, such as the calf and ankle, it is desirable for the support stocking to have substantially full stitch distension at varying widths to obtain some support in the different areas of the leg, but it has been difficult, particularly in stockings knit on circular machines, to produce full stitch distension or even a tight fit at the narrow ankle and foot portions.

When the present invention is incorporated in support stockings, the reduction in the length of the yarn in the floating stitch courses caused by the floating stitches being straight rather than looped produces full distension of the stitches in the floating stitch courses at a reduced width of the stocking although the stocking can be initially knit to the same relaxed width. For best results, the floating stitch courses do not include the relatively long held stitches except as may be necessary periodically to break an undesirable pattern effect. However, even the held stitches do not significantly add to the length of the yarn in the held stitch courses as the additional yarn required by the long held stitches is primarily drawn from the loops in the adjacent sinker wales, which loops are thereby shortened.

This reduced length of yarn in the individual courses plus the ability of the yarn to slide through the loops produces striking results when used in a stocking that includes a raw yarn as the raw yarn will shrink when boarded and thereby pull the stocking snugly about the ankle of the form, from which reduced width the stocking can be extended only a limited amount before full stitch distension occurs due to the reduced number of loops in the floating stitch courses.

As is apparent from the above description of the various features and applications of the present invention, the invention is not limited to any particular type of yarn or any particular pattern repeat. Thus plain or raw yarn can be used or a lively, torque yarn can be used or a combination of raw and torque yarns in separate courses or in the same courses can be used. Similarly, the held and floated stitch pattern can be repeated coursewise and walewise in any sequence to produce specific results.

Typical yarn combinations and repeating patterns are described below as preferable to produce the indicated characteristics. These embodiments will be described in relation to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a photograph of a stocking made according to the present invention and mounted on a leg form;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged photograph of the area indicated in dotted lines in the calf of the stocking of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 illustrating a similar portion of a stretch stocking embodying the present invention and having a plain, non-lively yarn in alternate courses and a combined lively, torque yarn and a nonlively, plain yarn in the other courses; and

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrating a similar portion of a support stocking embodying the present invention and having a lively, torque yarn and a plain, non-lively yarn combined in each course.

A typical stocking made in accordance with the present invention is seen in the photograph FIG. 1 mounted on a leg form. This stocking 10 has an upper welt portion 12, a central leg portion 14 that includes a calf portion 16 and ankle portion 18, and a foot portion 20. As seen in the photograph, the stocking has a desirable sheer appearance and does not show any undesirable pattern effect. This Sheerness and lack of apparent pattern is obtained by the present invention even in the relatively heavy denier and combined yarns of support-type stockings.

The basic stitch arrangement of the present invention is illustrated in FIG. 2. In this arrangement a held stitch 22 and a floated stitch 24 are knit sequentially the same needle Wale 26 without interlooping or tucking of the floated stitch 24 with the held stitch 22. Thus the floated stitch 24 extends across the Wale 26 of the held stitch and is knit with the loops 28 in the needle wales 30 on both sides of the held stitch Wale 26. As a result, the yarn 32 is not obstructed by any tucking and can slide or shift through the floated stitch 24 and the held stitch 22 to equalize the distribution and tension of the yarn throughout the circumference of the stocking. Also, the

yarn is not bulked together in an unsightly bulky pattern that would reduce sheerness, but rather the extenl sion of the floated stitches 24 across the opening 34 created by the held stitch 22 reduces any pattern appearance. As the floated stitches 24 are knit in the needle wales 30 on both sides of the held stitch Wale 26 they prevent runs progressing downwardly in these wales 30 as the floated stitches 24 will remain looped in the opposite Wale 3i) and will not pull out to continue the run.

The held and floated stitches 22 and 24 of the present invention are knit by first knitting the course 36 of the held stitch 22 and holding the needle on which the held stitch is looped out of knitting position while knitting the floated stitch course 38 so that the floated stitch 24 is unknit, and then raising the needle having the held stitch thereon back into knitting position to knit the held stitch with the loop of the next course 38.

The particular embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2 is characterized by a repeating pattern wherein the held and floated stitches 22 and 24 are repeated every fourth Wale and every fourth pair of courses with the held and floated stitches progressing one Wale to the right for each pair of courses. This particular pattern produces optimum characteristics in most applications of the present invention. Obviously an increase in the spacing between repeats would reduce the efiect of some of the features of the present invention, but satisfactory results can be obtained with numerous variations of the repeating pattern and it is to be understood that the present invention is not intended to be limited to any particular pattern.

Similarly the invention is applicable to numerous types and Weights of yarn. The stocking of FIGS. 1 and 2 is made with a non-lively or plain l5 denier monofilament nylon yarn in each course of the leg portion. It could also be made using a lively, torque l5 denier nylon yarn. The denier and yarn types can be varied and the yarns can be combined as desired to produce suitable results in other types and variations of stockings.

The present invention incorporated in a stretch stocking is illustrated in FIG. 3, wherein the courses 42 having the held stitches 44 are knit with a 20 denier monofilament non-lively or raw nylon yarn and the alternate courses 46 having the floated stitches 48 are knit with a two yarn combination of a 20 denier monofilament nonlively or raw nylon yarn 43 and a 30 denier monofilament lively, torque nylon yarn 45 that has been treated to impart a twist-torque of 26 turns per inch and a resulting liveliness factor of 14.9 (determined in accordance with the device and procedure disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 2,295,593, issued September 15, 1942 to John Blanchard Miles, In). Because the held stitches 44 extend across the floated stitch courses 46 and are looped with the next course 50, the wales of the fabric are restrained from substantial twisting or twirling and i1 is possible to use only one torque yarn having a twist in only one direction in knitting the entire leg portion 01 the stocking rather than needing two oppositely twister yarns to balance the fabric as in most present conven tional stretch stockings knit with torque yarn. This re sults in substantial economy as a raw yarn can be user as a substitute for a second and oppositely twisted torqur yarn and the difliculties of handling the yarns is greatly reduced during knitting. The raw yarn also is advantageous as it shrinks during boarding and pulls the stocking in to hug the form so that a proper snug fit is obtained on the leg of the wearer even at the narrow ankle portion. The above described sliding feature of the present invention facilitates this shrinkage to conform to the form.

The repeating pattern of this embodiment is identical to the pattern of the embodiment of FIG. 2, except that the held and floated stitch combination advances to the left each pair of courses.

The present invention incorporated in a support type stocking is illustrated in FIG. 4, wherein each course is knit with a two yarn combination of one end 62 of 20 denier monofilament raw nylon yarn and one end 64 of 30 denier monofilament lively, torque nylon yarn that has been treated to impart a twist-torque of 26 turns per inch and a liveliness factor of 14.9, with the torque yarns in alternate courses being twisted in opposited directions.

The support effect using this construction is obtained from the strength of the yarns themselves and the dimensioning and knitting of the stocking so that the stitches are substantially fully distended when the stocking is extended to the width at which it is worn, as set out in the above referred to copending application.

In this support stocking the floating stitches 52 reduce the amount of yarn available for widthwise stitch distension as each floating stitch 52 takes the place of what would be a loop in a plain knit fabric and thus there is one less loop to be distended for each floating stitch 52. As the floating stitches 52 are in courses 54 that do not include held stitches 56 there is no additional yarn added to these courses to make up for the reduction due to the floating stitches and optimum results are produced. However, the held stitches 56 themselves do not add significantly to the distendable length of the held stitch courses 58 as the additional yarn in the held stitches 56 is to a considerable extent pulled from the adjacent sinker wales 60.

The pattern illustrated in the embodiment of FIG. 4 repeats a combination of held and floated stitches every four needle wales in a coursewise direction and every sixteen courses in a walewise direction with the pattern advancing two pairs of courses downwardly and one Wale to the right. This particular repeat reduces the number of stitches to be distended in every fourth course by one fourth, as from 400 to 300 when knitting on a 400 needle machine. Also, this repeating pattern produces excellent support characteristics without a noticeable pattern appearance. However, satisfactory results can be obtained with various other patterns and yarn combinations, either torque or plain or both.

In manufacturing ladies stockings of any of the above described embodiments a welt portion 12 (FIG. 1) is knit of conventional or any other desired construction,

the leg portion 14 is knit using the stitch constructions and patterns described above, and the foot portion 14 is knit using the stitch construction and pattern of the leg portion if desired and including the usual reinforcements therein. The specific details of machine adjustments and control to knit the stitches of the present invention are not included herein as any skilled mechanic can work out the details of machine adjustment from the description of the stitches and patterns. These stitches can be knit on circular knitting machines, flat bed machines, tricot knitting machines and any other machines where individual needles can be controlled to hold stitches.

The present invention has been described in detail above for purposes of illustration only, and is not intended to be limited by this description or otherwise, except as defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A knitted support stocking comprising knitted courses having dispersed therein held stitches combined 6 with floated stitches, with said held and floated stitches occurring in closely spaced courses and in closely spaced wales, said floated stitches being knit in courses that have in each course a synthetic, pre-set, =lively, torque yarn and a synthetic yarn that was raw when knit, whereby shrinkage of said raw yarn to provide support characteristics is facilitated by the held and floated stitch construction.

2. A knitted support stocking comprising knitted courses having dispersed therein held stitches combined with floated stitches, said held and floated stitches occurring in closely spaced courses and in closely spaced wales, said closely spaced courses having in each course a synthetic, pre-set, lively, torque yarn and a synthetic yarn that was raw when knit, whereby shrinkage of said raw yarn to provide support characteristics is facilitated by the held and floated stitch construction.

3. A knitted support stocking comprising knitted courses having in each course a synthetic, pre-set, lively, torque yarn and a synthetic yarn that was raw when knit, said courses having dispersed therein held stitches combined with floated stitches, with said held and floated stitches occurring in closely spaced courses and in closely spaced wales, whereby shrinkage of said raw yarn to provide support characteristics is facilitated by the held and floated stitch construction.

4. A knitted support stocking comprising knitted courses having dispersed therein held stitches combined with floated stitches, with said held and floated stitches occurring in closely spaced courses and in closely spaced wales, said floated stitches being knit in courses that have in each course a synthetic, pre-set, lively, torque yarn and a synthetic yarn that was raw when knit, said held stitches being tightly knit and drawing yarn from adjacent wales without substantially increasing the length of yarn in the held stitch courses, whereby shrinkage of said raw yarn to provide support characteristics is facilitated by the held and floated stitch construction.

5. A knitted support stocking comprising knitted courses having in each course a synthetic, pre-set, lively, torque yarn and a synthetic yarn that was a raw yarn when knitted, said courses having dispersed therein held stitches combined with floated stitches, with the combined held and floated stitches occurring in closely spaced courses and in closely spaced wales, said held stitches being tightly knit and drawing yarn from adjacent wales without substantially increasing the length of yarn in the held stitch courses, whereby shrinkage of said raw yarn to provide support characteristics is facilitated by the held and floated stitch construction.

6. A ladies stocking of knit construction having Welt, leg and foot portions, said leg portion being knit with a lively, torque yarn having a twist-torque in only one direction, said leg portion having dispersed therein held stitches combined with floated stitches, with said held and floated stitches occurring in closely spaced courses and in closelyspaced wales, said held stitches substantially preventing twisting of the stocking by the uni-directional twist-torque y 7. A ladies stocking of knit construction having welt, leg and foot portions, said leg portions being knit substantially throughout with a lively, torque yarn having a twist-torque in only one direction, said leg portion having dispersed therein held stitches combined with floated stitches, with said held and floated stitches occurring in closely spaced courses and in closely spaced wales, said held stitches substantially preventing twisting of the stocking by the uni-directional twist-torque yarn.

8. A ladies stocking of knit construction having welt, leg and foot portions, said leg portions being knit with courses of lively, torque yarn having twist-torque in only one direction alternating with courses of yarn that was raw, non-torque when knit, said leg portion having dispersed therein held stitches combined with floated stitches, with said held and floated stitches occurring in closely spaced courses and in closely spaced wales, said held stitches substantially preventing twisting of the stocking by the uni-directional twist-torque yarn.

9. A ladies stocking of knit construction according to claim 8 and characterized further in that said held stitches are included in the courses of raw, non-torque yarn.

10. A ladies stocking of knit construction having welt, leg and foot portions, said leg portions being knit with courses having both a lively, torque yarn having twisttorque in only one direction and a yarn that was raw, non-torque, when knit, alternating with other courses of yarn that was raw, non-torque, when knit, said leg portion having dispersed therein held stitches combined with floated stitches, with said held and floated stitches occurring in closely spaced courses and in closely spaced wales,

8 and said held stitches being in said other courses and substantially preventing twisting of the stocking by the unidirectional twist-torque yarn.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,022,157 Siegel Nov. 26, 1935 2,057,375 Friedmann Oct. 13, 1936 2,060,882 Lochhead Nov. 17, 1936 2,714,757 Leath et al. Aug. 9, 1955 2,720,097 DeMond Oct. 11, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 565,687 Germany Dec. 5, 1932 

